Singapore’s Lasalle College of the Arts has suggested that we discuss “sustainability and care” in creative education.

On Wednesday 11 February, I attended an online conversation organised by the University of the Arts London on the future of creative education. The president of Singapore’s Lasalle College of the Arts was one of the three speakers. We had been invited to submit questions ahead of the event. Here was mine : 

“I visited the National Institute of Education in Singapore two years ago. I found a training programme aimed at enabling STEM teachers (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) to teach their disciplines through the practice of kitchen gardening and cooking, which I consider creative practices. In our Central Saint Martins-Birkbeck MBA, we use creative practice to teach business. Does creative education have a central role to play in the future of educational practice beyond our own disciplines ?” 

Here is the teacher training programme I was referring to, which I mentioned in the “Learning through gardening” chapter of my article “The hanging gardens of Singapore”:

I followed up on Thursday by sending Lasalle an email with a link to my article. The college came back to me on Friday with a commentary. They “enjoyed the article and the reflections it offers on the environment” and reaffirmed the “significant role” creative practice “plays across disciplines” acknowledged during the online talk. They put me in touch with the person “who oversees the incorporation of sustainability and care into our curriculum” in their organisation, as both of us “may have an interesting conversation in this area”.

Words count. This feedback reminds me that care is fundamental to what I do. I look forward to discussing sustainability and care, care for people, the places they live in and the wider world, with an institution located in one of the greenest city on the planet renowned for the quality of its education.